


Of the Abyss

by WriterWinged



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: I have no clue how these tags work, My First AO3 Post, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, more characters will appear - Freeform, the main character speaks/thinks in second person, this is not a reader insert, uh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-21 13:37:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20694431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterWinged/pseuds/WriterWinged
Summary: Something stirred in Void when the Radiance battled the Pale Wyrm. Something forgotten, something old. Now it awakens and carves a new path for Hallownest's somber fate. Only time will tell if it would have been kinder for it to sleep...





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! This is the prologue of my Hollow Knight longfic. I'm not the happiest with it, but if I spend any longer on it I'm going to scream. Don't expect any of the other chapters to be as short as this one. If there are mistakes, let me know. I have no beta, so mistakes slip by.

The Void was unending and patient. You had learned to be just as patient as it was, through the long ages spent in its darkness. Once, maybe, you had been restless, aching to move, explore and discover. Now, now you knew quiet, stillness, silence.

You don’t remember the last time you moved, but that was fine, there was nothing to explore and you had no desire to, not anymore. It was one of the many things you had given to the Void, ages ago. Without them, there was contentment, there was stillness, and there was an absence of everything.

Perhaps that was a good thing or maybe that was a bad thing, but it was your reality and it had been and would continue to be for ages more. Or it would have, until the impossible happened and sound echoed in the Void.

Your head snapped up at the echoing sound of impossibility. The Void rippled with the sound as well, another action that should never have happened here. The only way that you could think of that happening is if Higher Beings were battling for control near the Sea, but last you knew, none had settled in your home due to the Void and how close the Sea was to the surface.

Once again, the Void rippled, but this time, it was like an earthquake had hit. You fell sideways, barely managing to catch yourself from flipping around as the Void rippled and shook. Now you knew it was a battle between Higher Beings, close enough to the Sea to affect the Void as far away as you were.

You rose to your feet, swaying with the shaking and began to walk towards the source. You had to understand who was fighting and why, if only to stop the shaking. You walked and walked, the Void rippling and shaking around you as the battle raged on.

As you drew closer to the source of the shakes, it became apparent that a winner of the battle was being decided. Being far closer than you originally were, you could now feel the combatants, two Beings of Light but of different secondaries. You could also feel that the one of Dream was weakening, falling to the Being of Soul.

You contemplated stopping, but the Void was still being shaken by the battle. There was still a threat to… <strike>something?</strike> It was close to the Sea and if the battle was not stopped, then it could become upset and terrible things would happen to the area near the Sea. You fell to one knee as a massive wave of power exploded from the battle and the Being of Dream’s power reduced drastically.

As the Void began to settle around you, you began to slow, not having a desire to continue walking with no goal. Once more you settled down and prepared for a long stillness, a cursory eye kept on the Beings. Time once again became meaningless to you but now, it’s passage was measured by the regrowth of Dream’s power.

You could feel Soul’s influence spread and grow, their power growing at the same rate. You could feel many Beings through the Void, but none as clearly as those two. You could even feel the Beings that should be drowned out by the more powerful ones, but they were close to… close to… As was expected, due to how close they were to the Sea.

Your mind grew slow and quiet, the Void seeping back into your joints and under your carapace. The quiet of the Void grew more persuasive, stilling your body and sending you back to that familiar nothingness. The Dream grew stronger and the Soul spread its influence and you stayed in your quiet sleep.

You stayed as Dream grew wrathful and slipped through the Dreams of mortals, twisting them in their rage and turning them against Soul. You stayed as Soul grew fearful and desperate, searching for a way to stop Dream. You did not sleep, however, when Soul took steps into the place you were sworn to protect, as they reached for the most beloved Gift of the Void.

No, instead you awoke as the Sea was quelled, as the Being of Light and Soul approached the Gift to the Void. You awoke and were reminded of your purpose, of why you had cast yourself into the Sea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, MC talks in second person. That may or may not change in the far, far future. MC has neither name nor pronouns, but will given time.
> 
> It is only now that I look at this and realize none of this was in the plan for this chapter. Hm.


	2. 1.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is still technically Thursday. I'm not late <strike>yet</strike>.
> 
> But here is Chapter 1! Its called 1.1 because its the first chapter of the first arc. Also I noticed that there is no summary? Oops. Fixed that. I may have missed some mistakes, but I'm so proud of this chapter.
> 
> Uh, not sure this counts? But better safe then sorry. **There could be what is considered suicidal thoughts, as much as wishing for near nonexistence is. It begins about _You fell to your knees..._ and ends about the first strikethrough? It is really very brief.**

You lurched to your feet at the feeling of the Sea forcefully being quelled. With its silence, the memories you had given to the Void returned, at least the ones relevant to your duty and the Gift. You were its guardian, meant to protect it from all who would seek to use it.

You remembered carrying it down to the lowest point, where the Void slipped through the cracks of the world and saturated the air, where dozens of other Gifts lay, lifeless and inert. You remembered placing it down and then you were at the edge of the Sea, your mask in place.

It was a finely crafted thing, a large pair of horns, the right one shorter than the other but far taller than the two smaller sets in between, with a single branch on both. There were two holes on the face of it, to provide better connection to the Void.

It was a sign of your devotion, of everything you were willing to give, everything you did give to the Void. Your mask was a reminder of your duty, one you had failed to upkeep. You had stepped into the Sea and stayed there, except the Sea was not still.

The Void flowed between the Wells before returning to the Sea but it was a very long cycle. By placing yourself in the Sea, you had placed yourself in that cycle and in turn were taken far from the Shore where your Gift rested and far from your duty.

The battle had pulled you closer to the Shore, but still not close enough to prevent the Being of Light and Soul from reaching the Gift. The most you could do was ensure that the damage done to the Gift was minimal and that it still yet lived.

You did not let your newfound memories halt your mad dash to the edge of the Sea. You raced through the Sea until you could feel the edge of the world far above you. You stopped and looked up, towards the surface of the Sea. The surface that was unnaturally still.

You crouched, gathering yourself even as the Being left the area that was claimed by the Void. You launched yourself upwards, slicing through the Void and rising ever closer to the Shore. You noticed, however, that the closer you rose, the harder it became to move.

In fact, it seemed like the Sea was solidifying above you. You confirmed your suspicion by slamming into a wall of solid Void. It shook, but did not break under the force of your impact. You shook your head, pulling away from yet another impossibility. Your claws slowly traced over the smooth surface, trying to figure out how this happened.

Perhaps the Being of Soul had done this? But no, they were gone and so too should their influence. Unless the Sea had moved at some point, but it wasn’t likely to abandon the Gift without letting you know somehow.

You moved along the wall slowly, feeling out for any sort of crack or fault that you could slip through. It was smooth, almost as smooth as your mask in fact with just as many imperfections. In other words, none. Except, that wasn’t true, was it?

Here, at the closest side to the Shore, the Void was more spongy, less solid. You pressed against it, feeling your claws slowly sink into it. It would take effort, but you could make it through here but you had to be quick. Even now, you could feel the Sea becoming more and more solid with every passing moment.

You forced a single hand through, reaching toward the Shore. Your claws dug into a solid mass, a strange thing to feel after the Void’s normal suggestion of solidity. You began to pull yourself up, your body pushing through the Void.

Your horns broke through first, more an impression of feeling open air then any true knowledge. You could feel the Void slipping around you, almost trying to keep you within the Sea. You almost let it, almost let the nothingness take you once more, but your duty called you, pulling you from the Void. You would not fail it, not now.

The rest of your head broke through, your shoulders following quickly. You leveraged your other arm out the Sea, grabbing farther along the Shore and pulling. You clawed the rest of the way out, dragging your body free, your cloak draped around you.

Staggering to your feet, you cast your gaze along the Shore. The very first thing that caught your attention was the structure built on the Shore. It was a large thing, built recently and, far more importantly, the reason the Sea was still. It shone a bright light out from its top, keeping the influence of the Being focused upon it.

You spent several moments staring up at the light before the pull from the Gift caused your attention to turn back to your duty. You turned your head to a small opening at the bottom of the wall encircling the Shore, but it would be a tight fit. Perhaps even too tight.

Walking over to it, you pressed your head against the floor and peered through the doorway at the rest of the tunnel. It would be tight and you would have to crawl, but you could make it. You shoved your mask through and began to crawl towards the Abyss.

Several times you ran into pools of Void, but each was stilled by the Light amplified from the structure. There was a thin layer of liquid Void on top, but it was solid underneath. You had discovered this when one of your hands had landed in a pool. It had been like you had stepped into a puddle.

You had not let the discovery halt you for long and had pressed on. The confining walls of the tunnel soon gave way to the open space of the Abyss. You stepped out onto the ledge in front of the tunnel, casting your gaze around the massive cavern.

Far above you lied the Being of Soul and whatever territory they had carved from the remains of the Being of Dream’s territory. You cared not for whatever had been created above for far below was your goal. Your Gift and all the others that had come before it.

You strode to the edge of the platform and turned your head downward. Your claws tensed as you noticed that your Gift appeared to be missing from its platform. You lept from the ledge, heading downwards and towards the glaring absence.

You landed on one of the few spots not covered by Gifts and took off towards the center platform. You scrambled over Gifts and ground alike but what you had seen above had not been a trick. Your Gift was no longer there and you had failed in your duty.

You fell to your knees in front of the platform and laid your head upon it, as a far greater emptiness began to consume you from within. It was far more consuming then the emptiness of the Void and far more debilitating.

You did not know how long you lay there, the emptiness consuming you, before you felt the Being approaching the entrance of the Void once. For a moment, you considered not moving, letting the Being find you and do whatever they wished with you, but you dismissed the thought.

You dragged yourself from the platform <strike>_your failure_</strike> and towards a grouping of discarded Gifts that would serve to hide you from their sight. You stumbled behind the outcropping and collapsed, turning so that you would be able to see when the Being arrived and left.

The first time you noticed was the light. It spilled from the Being, driving back the Void. They waited at the top for several long moments, during which you considered <strike>_your failure_</strike> the absence.

The light followed their descent through the Abyss, but it could not banish all of the Void. By the time the Being reached the platform, their light was only affecting the area that was closest to their body. It was enough, however, for you to see what they held in their arms.

Cradled in the arms of the Being was a Gift, your Gift. You almost lurched to your feet at the sight, the emptiness twisting into something hot and painful. The only thing that stopped you was the thought that they may do something to the Gift if you attacked.

The Being stood on the platform, mirroring their actions from before, before finally placing your Gift down. They did not release it immediately, but eventually stepped away and rose again. You waited until their light had finally left the Abyss before moving.

You ran to your Gift, running your claws over it and tapping along the shell, searching for any sign that the Being had done harm to it. You froze at the feeling you got from the Gift, as there was a response from within the Gift.

You tapped again, something curling in your chest as you waited. Something released as you felt several answering taps. Somehow, the Being had turned your Gift into an Egg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really want to do the last scene from PK's perspective. MC is just missing a lot of things, poor baby.


End file.
